National Football League

Undrafted WR Collins took winding path to NFL, wants to prove self to Packers

Published May. 26, 2015 3:15 p.m. ET

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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- When Ricky Collins graduated from John Tyler High School in Texas, the three-star wide-receiver recruit had plenty of offers to play Division I football. Five years later, though never able to step on the field of a major college program, Collins still found his way to the NFL and the Green Bay Packers.

Collins' path to reaching this point of his career was far from a traditional one. Academic issues initially prevented him from being able to honor his commitment to SMU. By 2013, after a couple seasons of Collins finding success at Kilgore Junior College, football took a backseat to family.

"My dad had a stroke," Collins said.

At the time, Collins was five games into his first season with Midwestern State, a Division II school. On the field, Collins wasn't having much of an impact, totaling seven catches for 98 yards and zero touchdowns.

But it wouldn't have mattered how well football was going. Collins felt an obligation back home.

"I had stopped going to class and went home, started working to take care of my dad," Collins said. "My mom is disabled, so I was really the man of the house."

Collins is happy to report that his father is now "doing fine." When it became evident that all was well at home, Collins allowed himself to continue with football.

That led to Collins transferring to his third college, Texas A&M-Commerce, another Division II school. However, he was unable to play on game days that year due to conference transfer rules.

In the fall of 2014, it would have been almost impossible for Collins to have been on any NFL radars. His only non-junior-college production was for fewer than 100 total yards, and he hadn't played in a game in nearly two full years.

As a senior, though, Collins averaged more than six catches, 107 yards and one touchdown per game. While that wasn't enough to get him invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, it did earn him a pre-draft visit to Green Bay.

With a 4.49-second 40-yard dash at his Pro Day, Collins had elevated himself into the conversation for being worthy of a late-round draft pick. The Packers likely weren't going to be the team to make that selection, especially not after drafting Ty Montgomery in the third round, but Green Bay's front office was quick to secure Collins after he found himself an undrafted free agent.

"I really can't tell you why I didn't get picked because I really don't know," Collins said.

It's difficult for an athlete like Collins to be challenged at the Division II level. With the speed displayed at his Pro Day, in a 6-foot, 198-pound frame, there were questions about whether Collins had to apply any receiving skills that would be required in the NFL.

"A knock they had on me was they didn't know if I could actually catch on to the concepts and actually run routes," he said. "Say for instance, if I was a great D-II player, then in D-I I'd probably be a good D-I player. That's how they (NFL scouts) probably balanced it out."

The first thing Collins wants to prove is that he didn't just put up great statistics due to inferior competition.

"That's the point I have of why I'm up here, to make sure everyone knows that I can actually run routes and catch onto the concepts up here in the NFL," Collins said.

Going undrafted only served to fuel Collins' drive to succeed.

Ricky Collins signed with the Packers as a free agent after going undrafted.

"I feel like I have a chip on my shoulder due to the fact that I could've been drafted," he said.

Still, Collins wasn't necessarily surprised he didn't get drafted.

"I want to say they did it to see if I can prove myself," Collins said. "Because I sat out my junior year and went back home and stuff, then I came back out and had a breakout year my senior year, they're trying to see if the production is really there."

Despite the Packers seeming to be more than set at the wide receiver position with Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, Jeff Janis, Jared Abbrederis and Montgomery, Collins chose to join Green Bay once contract offers started pouring in for him.

"For me, it was more tradition," Collins said. "I like the winning tradition. And I feel like I have a good opportunity to make the team, with the undrafted free agents and stuff. There's a lot of success up here."

When Collins faces the pressure that is soon to arrive during training camp and he sees how many players are in front of him on the depth chart, it won't seem like insurmountable odds to him. He's been through serious real-life challenges off the field, which have given the 23-year-old a lot of perspective that many his age can't comprehend.

"It was a lot to handle, but it made me a man out of it," Collins said. "There's nothing I can't bear. I can get past everything, any obstacle that's in my way."

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